As desquire1962 says, for Bruce, the song is about that time after Born to Run, when it looked like all his dreams were coming crashing down because of a broken promise. For the rest of us, it's about all those other promises that get broken by you or someone else. The promises we make with a guy/girl, the promises we make with our families and friends and the promises we make with ourselves.
"Like when the truth is spoken and it don't make no difference
Something in your heart goes cold"
These lines kill me. Ever told someone you love them, expecting it to change everything but they don't love you back? Ever told your friends/family about the hard time your having and they can't do anything to help you out of the mess you've gotten yourself in? Ever faced up to something about yourself that's been coming at you ever since you were born, only to find you can't do a damn thing to change it? It turns something cold inside and you don't know if you're toughening up or giving up.
I guess for me what this song means is, you can spend your whole life making promises, chasing dreams and trying to do what's you. You can tell yourself when you're a kid that you're the hardest thing in the world - nothing is going to beat you, you're going to win everything and just throw it away in some wild and triumphant expression of freedom. But life has got its chains and not everyone breaks free from them. Hearts get broken, dreams get swept away and second chances don't always come around. As Bruce sings in Atlantic City "Down here it's just winners and losers and don't get caught on the wrong side of that line."
To end on a positive note, from This Hard Land: "If you can't make it stay hard, stay hungry, stay alive - if you can."
This is probably the best song I've ever heard.
As desquire1962 says, for Bruce, the song is about that time after Born to Run, when it looked like all his dreams were coming crashing down because of a broken promise. For the rest of us, it's about all those other promises that get broken by you or someone else. The promises we make with a guy/girl, the promises we make with our families and friends and the promises we make with ourselves.
"Like when the truth is spoken and it don't make no difference Something in your heart goes cold"
These lines kill me. Ever told someone you love them, expecting it to change everything but they don't love you back? Ever told your friends/family about the hard time your having and they can't do anything to help you out of the mess you've gotten yourself in? Ever faced up to something about yourself that's been coming at you ever since you were born, only to find you can't do a damn thing to change it? It turns something cold inside and you don't know if you're toughening up or giving up.
I guess for me what this song means is, you can spend your whole life making promises, chasing dreams and trying to do what's you. You can tell yourself when you're a kid that you're the hardest thing in the world - nothing is going to beat you, you're going to win everything and just throw it away in some wild and triumphant expression of freedom. But life has got its chains and not everyone breaks free from them. Hearts get broken, dreams get swept away and second chances don't always come around. As Bruce sings in Atlantic City "Down here it's just winners and losers and don't get caught on the wrong side of that line."
To end on a positive note, from This Hard Land: "If you can't make it stay hard, stay hungry, stay alive - if you can."